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How To Connect Samsung Galaxy S4 To TV: From Little to Big Screen

Samsung Galaxy S4 is the latest flagship device from Samsung and is another device from the manufacturer which has set the standards for the year in the Android smartphones market. The device has some new and unique features along with a beautiful HD screen. Even though the S4’s screen looks quite crisp and works well for videos and graphics, smartphones are generally small and cannot give out a TV-like HD experience. The great thing is that you can connect most Android smartphones to your TV in order to do everything that you do on your smartphone, on your HD TV. Use this article to learn how to connect Samsung Galaxy S4 to TV.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 features a full HD 1080p display and you can easily enjoy the experience on your TV. Learning how to connect Samsung Galaxy S4 to TV is quite simple and the process is straight forward. However, you might need some additional plugs if you don’t already have them lying around in your house. Here are the methods you can use to connect Samsung Galaxy S4 to TV and enjoy the experience on the big screen.

Method 1: Wired Method

This method uses HDMI cable. A lot of Android smartphones have this feature and most of them do come with HDMI ports. However, the Galaxy S4 doesn’t have a direct HDMI port, so use another plug in order to connect it to your TV.

Step 1

Firstly, buy a MHL adapter with 11 pins and an HDMI cable if you don’t have them lying around at your place. You might be able to get the MHL adapter for around $10 from Amazon. You can also use an unbranded cheaper version of the cable if you can find it. Make sure that you only buy an 11 pin adapter as there are older models still sold as well, which won’t work with the Galaxy S4.

Step 2

Next, connect the MHL plug of the adapter to your Galaxy S4.

Step 3

Now, connect a micro USB device charger to your adapter. You will see a micro USB port included on the adapter just as you have on your Galaxy S4 for charging. This is a recommended step, as powering a HDMI cable directly through your device will consume a lot of battery on your device.

Step 4

Now, plug one side of your HDMI cable into the MHL adapter which is connected to your Galaxy S4. Plug the other side of the HDMI cable in your television. That’s it! You have successfully connected your S4 to your TV and you can now enjoy videos and games from your android phone directly on your TV. For improving audio quality on your TV, simply go to the Settings app in your phone and go to the My Device tab. Then, go to Accessory/Audio Output and choose Surround.

Method 2: Wireless Method

This is another easy method for connecting your Galaxy s4 to your HD TV. This method uses Samsung’s Screen Mirroring feature to “mirror” the phone’s display on the TV without the need for any wires. This is the perfect option if you want to play games or play videos while lying down far away from your TV, avoiding the need for different wires and adapters. This method is ideal if you have a Smart TV from Samsung as you won’t need to buy any additional tools to connect your device. However, you can also use this method on a TV from another manufacturer, as long as you buy Samsung’s Allshare Cast Wireless Hub, which is a bit expensive.

Step 1

Firstly, buy the Allshare Cast Wireless Hub if you are not using a Smart TV from Samsung. You can buy it from Amazon for $65. If you have a Smart TV from Samsung, proceed to Step 3.

Step 2

Next, use an HDMI cable to connect the Hub to your HD TV. The indicator on the Hub device should turn red after a couple of seconds. If the red light indicator starts blinking, simply press the reset button and the red light will become stable. This means that the Hub device is successfully connected to your TV.

Step 3

Next, open the Settings app on your Samsung Galaxy S4. Click on the Connections tab. Now, tap on Screen Mirroring and enable it by flicking the button to the right.

Step 4

After enabling Screen Mirroring, you Galaxy S4 should scan for the available devices and would list the Allshare Cast Hub which you connected to your TV earlier. Simply tap on the device name when you see your device after your Galaxy S4 has scanned for the available devices. Your Galaxy S4 should now be connected to your TV and you can enjoy content from your smartphone on your TV.

Conclusion

Using Android smartphones is a great way to enjoy content on the go as you can watch movies and play games. Previously, the screens on these Android devices were of relatively poor quality with low screen resolutions. However, today, most premium Android smartphones feature a 1080p HD display, similar to some of the best TV screens. Still, the things you can do on your Android smartphone are limited due to the screen size. Connecting your Android device to a TV is, therefore, a great way to enhance your smartphone experience. The Galaxy S4, no doubt, is a brilliant device and you can easily enhance your device experience by connecting it to your TV using one of the methods above. Make sure that you follow all the instructions carefully and feel free to ask any questions below!

I have tried setup 1 using an HDMI and MHL adapter and it crashes. Every time. I have a Panasonic Vieira which I was told will work with Samsung products. So, my setup is correct and connects but crashes every time I select a show, movie, sports. I have Verizon and added NFL and that says not supported my HDMI. HELP!

i am only getting 720p not 1080p. The monitor is a Visio E220va perfectly capable of displaying 1080p. The adapter is from Samsung, and the HDMI cable is new. Is there something I need to do with the phone to get the better picture to display.

When using the mhl adapter. Does the tv have to meet any specifications other then having a hdmi input port? Further more, is there a setting on your phone that needs to be changed to make it an output device?

DOES NOT WORK! This is useless! When I try to launch NFL live, says “HDMI is not supported”. Why the fuck would I just want to play with my phone apps on the big screen. Of course I want to watch the game, not play with the stupid phone apps. Don’t waste your time with this crap!

I want to hear the sound (not see the video) from a Samsung TV on my Galaxy S4 using conventional ear buds so I don’t disturb others in my house. The TV and S4 both have bluetooth so is it possible to do this. I can pair the devices but no sound comes out of the ear phones. Can you suggest an App that will let me hear the audio from the TV on my S4.

I have an s4 and so does my husband his phone connects to our samsung tv with no problem but my phone doesn’t even notify me that it is connected to an hdmi port at all? I have already called samsung and they said since my mhl adapter isn’t samsung brand they can’t help me

Turns out it was the port i took it to my service provider and they replaced it for free and i am now enjoying my netflix (: is there any way to keep my phone from dying while it is on the mhl adapter? I have a power cord plugged in but it isn’t keeping my phone charged

Hi Heaven,
Have you tried completely charging your phone before enjoying Netflix and maybe the reason that your phone doesn´t keep enough energy could be problems with hardware. Have your replaced the charger?

Jane, I believe sound should only come from the TV. Make sure that the volume is high. If it doesn’t work, then maybe your TV doesn’t support it. Also, try going to Accessory in Settings, then to Audio output and enable Surround.

Hello can you help me I have an s5 and for the last three days when I plug in my mhl Samsung adapter it turn my phone off now before these three days it was woking no it just keeps turning my phone off. I brought a new hdmi cord I even took the Samsung adapter back and got a new one and its still doing the same thing, so what should I do?

Hi Jim,
I am glad to hear that it worked great for you. I haven´t tried the next step you mentioned, but maybe other users have. Hopefully, they will comment on their experience. Thanks for reading. =-)

I have the micro HDMi, USB power cords. Or in other words, the three way cord to plug into your S4. So, I tried plugging my phone into my Vizio (about 6-7 year old HDTV Non- smart TV), and I used both HDMI channels, and nothing. What will it take to stream my phone to my TV? I don’t have home internet. Is home Internet a MUST, to use the connection from my S4 to my Vizio HDTV? Does S4 have to be connected to a Samsung SMART TV to exchange screen size from my phone to the TV? I just want the cheapest method of streaming from my phone to the big screen.

Does my cell support hdl..its a Samsung Galaxy s 4 mini .I’ve been trying to hook up my cell to my tv to no avail. I have Samsung mhl adapter, hdmi cable. Plug in into hdmi port 2 and it shows nothing on the t.v. screen. What do you think.

Hi
If it helps, I have used the mhl-hdmi adapter extensively and more often than not, the issue is the phones port. The S4 is not very robust and very vulnerable to the twisting at tweaking from plugging/unplugging and moving around of the phone while the cord is plugged in. I had an S4 on which it worked perfectly. I had that phone replaced ((due to a non-related issue) with a reconditioned phone and my adapter didn’t work. A subsequent replacement did.

Hi There,
The first thing to check if no volume can be heard is the sound settings. Check the settings for both the TV and your phone.

Try playing different video files to verify if the problem is not file related. Play a particular video file on your phone without screen mirroring then play the same file with screen mirroring enabled.

You could also try a factory reset (remember to back everything up), but if you don´t want to do that you can wipe the cache partition of your phone. If this issue is caused by a corrupt temporary data then this procedure will resolve the issue.

Turn off the phone.
Hold the Volume Up, Volume Down and Power Key simultaneously.
Release the keys when the Android recovery screen appears.
Press the Volume Down key to highlight Wipe Cache Partition.
Press the Power key or Home key (this varies based on the software version of your phone) to select.
The phone will display Cache Wipe Complete after a few seconds.
Press the volume keys to highlight Reboot System Now.
Press the Power key to select.

If all else fails then you may want to consider using the wired mirroring option. You will need to use an AllShare cast dongle to connect your phone to the HDMI port of your TV for this feature to work. Hope this helps. =-)